The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 on last Friday (Nov. 9, 2012) to adopt a resolution of meatless Mondays for its citizens. The idea is for citizens to go meatless on Mondays in an effort to become healthier by limiting diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. According to the Meatless Monday website, there are several other cities in the U.S. and around the world who have endorsed meatless Mondays.

This is my first day adopting the policy of meatless Mondays for myself. Actually, for the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking very seriously about becoming a vegetarian…or a vegan. The way I see it, my body will benefit greatly from a change to eating more fruits, veggies, and whole grains. So I looked into both the vegan and the vegetarian diet to see which one I would be more prone to comply with.

It wasn’t even close. Of course the vegetarian diet won hands down. I’ve grown to take for granted the daily consumption of milk and dairy products over the span of my lifetime, and the vegetarian diet would allow me to continue to enjoy them. I’d give them up if I absolutely had to, but I don’t think I can give them up very easily, or for very long.

Actually, for the last few years I’ve been eating mostly chicken, and sea foods, while omitting the red meats. So I guess one could say that I am already a semi vegetarian.

But a vegetarian diet has its drawbacks. This is because a vegetarian diet can be lacking in some of the essential nutrients our bodies need. Because of this, a vegetarian diet must be well planned. Specific nutrients that may be lacking are: protein, iron, zinc, calcium, omega 3 fatty acids and other important nutrients…including vitamin D, vitamin B12, iodine, and riboflavin.

If you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian, I would suggest that you consult your doctor or nutritionist first, or at least investigate it carefully. This is in order to make sure your choice of foods will provide all of the necessary nutrients you will require. A family with growing children and mothers who are breast feeding or are pregnant can all consume a vegetarian diet without any harm. Perhaps it is a good idea to start off slowly, one day a week; eg Meatless Mondays.

As I already suggested, the thing to do first is to learn of your family’s nutritional requirements so their needs will be met. A vegan diet completely excludes meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. As you can determine, it is a bit more restrictive than what the vegetarian diet is. This is because it does not allow for the eggs and dairy products.

I hope this has given you some insight on the benefits of going meatless once a week. Also in the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian diet plan. I know for a long time in the past I always confused the two. The big thing to remember is if you like your milk and dairy products, go vegetarian.

Here are a few mantras I repeat a lot to myself. I don’t use all of them every day, but these are the ones that works well for me. If you need a little encouragement today, or any day, perhaps you will get some use out of them.

1)<strong> “Make your life’s work something you truly care about”. Someone once said, If you work at something you truly enjoy doing, you’ll never actually work another day in your life. I believe this states the obvious, but it will play a major role in lessoning the body’s stress. When you are doing something you truly love to do, chances are your life will be more fulfilling and satisfying. And as an added bonus, it will help to keep the blood pressure at a normal level; lessening the potential for the development of heart disease and stroke.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

2)“An apple a day, will keep the doctor away.” Treat your body as if you truly love it. An apple is a very healthy food and is loaded with nutrients. But if you simply eat right in general, exercise regularly, and drink plenty of fluids I believe you are on the right track for keeping the doctors away. I should probably add that you should actually see all of your regular doctors for the yearly physical examinations. Not only your PCP but also include the dentist, the gyn doctor, the eye doctor, and any other doctor your PCP has recommended that you see.

3) “Be slow to anger and slow to take offense.” I believe that we all make mistakes in our lives at some point. People sometimes do and say crazy things. But getting angry at someone doesn’t help matters much. Anger can be all to consuming and is potentially damaging to your health. The same goes for jealousy, greed, and fear. Do away with them before they do away with you.

4) “You are entirely up to you.” From: http://www.jeremydwill.com/ Make your body. make your life.” Look good, feel good, and be good. This gives you a big boost in your self esteem. Emotional health is just as important as our physical health. So take notes 🙂 Some say that the first impression is always the best, and some say clothes make the man. I will resort back to mantra #2…”Treat your body as if you truly love it.” When you know that you look good, it will automatically help to make you feel good and adds a great boost to your self esteem. No need to hesitate in making the appropriate decisions at work, or anywhere else; because if you “be good”, you’ve done your home work. Therefore you can speak and walk with confidence and others will jump at the chance to walk and work with you.

Photo:Wikimedia commons-CC-SA-2.5

5) “Live Love and Laugh”. I wish I could credit the person who initially said this but I’m unable to do so at this time. This mantra suggest that I should enjoy my life and live it to the best of my ability; also that I should maintain an awesome sense of humor. It also says to me that I should not be afraid to love or to be loved. This mantra is a great shot in the arm for anyone who may be down on themselves a bit. Live love and laugh helps to present a positive attitude which is so important when attempting to accomplish just about anything.

Photo from Wikimedia commons

6) “You will never know your limits unless you push yourself to them.” from: http://eatnexexercise.tumblr.com We all would like to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. For some of us, this will take a little more work than others. But I believe the goal is worth every bit of the price we pay to achieve it. To get yourself in good physical shape you may only need to lose a few pounds, or 100 pounds. You may only need to exercise a few days a week, or every day for 30 to 45 minutes. Whatever it is you need to do to get into shape, or to reach some other desired goal, You won’t know if you can do it if you don’t try..and try with conviction by pushing yourself to success.

7) “If you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done.” from: fitbe.msn.com A lot of us are guilty of procrastination. We wait for the perfect conditions or the perfect time. But that time may never come. That is the reason why I like this mantra. It is not just challenging, but it encourages me to work on accomplishing what I need to accomplish. Don’t wait for the perfect moment to come because in all actuality, it may never get here. Now is the right time to make it happen for you.

8)) “Nothing hurts more than just sitting on a couch.” from: http://eatnexercise.tumblr.com/ So what do you think? We will all be blessed with another tomorrow? I hope so, but sadly none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. But we do have today, and we do have this precious moment in time. I’m not advocating that we should be busy all the time. Rest is good, and we all should rest at some point during the day. It helps our bodies to rejuvenate. However, one of our biggest problems is procrastinating, or simply falling through on what we started out to do. If you are hurting, wouldn’t life hurt a lot less if you would simply get off the couch and get involved fixing what needs to be fixed, or doing something truly constructive. It could be something as simple as helping someone else with a dire need. Go for it.

Hopefully these mantras have been helpful to you. There is no reason why you can’t add to the list and make up a few of your own. Use works for you and start that custom today.
Healthy trails to you
Carolyn

What encourages you?
Greetings Healthy Warriors
Thank you for your visit today. In this blog I decided to tell you a little more about myself by sharing with you why I am now known as the healthy warrior.

I heard a quote some time ago that was very encouraging to me. I heard it from a very good friend during a casual conversation one day. It goes something like this: “It doesn’t matter how far you fall, rather, it is how soft you land.”

This quote gave me some encouragement when I was at a particularly low point in my life. I was faltering and seeming not to be making much progress on things I cared about. It also was a time that my physical health was declining. I had little energy to speak of and I was beginning to be more introverted.

On that day, because of the quote from my friend, I realized that I was actually in a falling mode. I would have most likely continued in a hard downward spiral if I didn’t muster up a way to have a successful landing somehow. She jolted me into the realization that I needed to become proactive in order to have a smooth landing. I needed to get out of the slump that I was in. That’s when I was able to preveent myself from falling…somehow. Instead, with renewed determination I began a posive move forward.

No more pity parties for me. Of course I did all the normal things anyone would do who truly wanted to become physically fit and healthy. I believe because I took a personal interest in the reasons for my faltering condition, is what enabled me to have a soft landing. In other words I stopped ignoring my problems, but instead I focused on how to fix them. I became proactive.

In my case, I know I needed to eat healthier and become more active. So instead of isolating myself every day, I became more involved with life. I enrolled in an evening class at our neighborhood community school (computer 101); I helped out with my ageing parents more, and enjoyed visiting with people in general; especially my children and grandchildren.

I found out that the more proactive I was, the more my attitude changed. I became a positive thinker and realized that I did not have to be doomed to living as an unhealthy old lady for the rest of my life…and I decided that I was not old and that I did have a life. Being involved with productive issues, and keeping a positive attitude, is what really helped to turn my life around.
Thankfully I’ve lost well over a hundred pounds, I’m eating healthy, and working out some, and I’m a lot stronger physically. I love doing the water aerobics better than any of the other exercises. Frankly it really doesn’t matter what type of exercise you decide to do, just do it.

So if your life is faltering because of your weight… or for any other reason, I suggest that you get involved with things that mean a lot to you. It will help to lift you out of your depression (or funk) so you will be able to do what you need to do for yourself.
Good luck in reaching your goals and for having a soft landing.
Healthy trails to you.
Carolyn